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(08-14-2018, 01:40 PM)overland Wrote: I'm at my wit's end. I'm trying to repair the interior trim around our windows--especially places where condensation, etc., has caused the finish to flake off and in some places mildewed the wood. Anyway, I can't find any product to match the finish. It looks like a paint (sort of a yellow pine color) in that it has some body and will flake off, and yet it's semi transparent. The underlying wood is pine, and you can see the grain. Not as well as with a stain, but it's still visible. I looked at Miniwax's poly/stain blends, but it's not really thick enough--at least it's not like what we've got.
Any advice? The whole house is full of the stuff (applied by some previous owner 10-15 years ago).
A picture might help
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maybe it was a glaze finish?
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Maybe a stain or paint with a poly over it.
John T.
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Could it be multiple layers of varnish? How old is the house?
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I'm going to try to take photos. I appreciate the thoughts. But it doesn't seem to be poly over stain. The color is in the top coat, which forms a film over the wood. It's not in the wood, as would be the case with a stain. In some places the finish is peeling off, and the color goes with it. But the film is thin enough that the wood grain can be seen through it, at least a little. It's not transparent. But the film doesn't blot out the grain completely. That's what's so puzzling, to me at any rate. I've been to several paint stores, carrying a piece of the trim, and no one can tell me what it is. At any rate it doesn't seem to match anything they sell.
The house is 60 years old but I'm pretty sure this finish (together with the windows) is more like 15 or 20.
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08-15-2018, 07:49 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-15-2018, 07:50 AM by tomsteve.)
reads a bit like amber shellac thats been on trim for a very long time and in sunlight
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08-15-2018, 04:17 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-15-2018, 05:11 PM by overland.)
Don't know if they help, but I've added some photos. Looks to me like some color has gotten into the wood but there's also color in the film. Pay no attention to the stuff I slopped on recently to see it it would match-- "pecan" poly stain by Minwax. I see it's visible in some of the photos. Also, the wood underneath is pine. In some pictures it's discolored.
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08-15-2018, 05:01 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-15-2018, 05:04 PM by overland.)
I looked up Cabot solid stains. Cabot says they're not for interior finishes. I'm working with interior trim--lots of it.